The Outsiders, EPILOGUE
by Now.Get.This
Summary: COMPLETE. If you had asked me where I was when I first woke up I'd say hell, after realizing I was at home. But it was the complete opposite.


**The Outsiders, EPILOGUE**

_'Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold..'_

I woke up in my own bedroom. But I couldn't remember how I got there. I slowly scanned the room. Something didn't seem right and I couldn't figure out what it was. I pushed the blankets off me and sat up. I hadn't been in this room for over a week. Everything was as I had left it. I got out of bed, I was already dressed. That's weird, I thought. But shrugged it off. I must've gotten in real late last night. Because I still couldn't remember how I got here. I went to the kitchen, hoping there'd be something to eat. That was when I realized there was no yelling or smashing of glass. My parents weren't even in the house. I went through all the cupboards hoping there was even a tiny bit of anything left to eat. I grinned when I opened found a whole lot of food in the pantry. I'm in heaven, I thought as I grabbed a few biscuits. It was too quiet here, I didn't like it. So I left the house. Deciding to go and see Pony. Maybe he knew what happened last night. It was a nice day outside and I liked the feeling of the sun coming down on my face. There weren't many people around. Maybe it was still early, I hadn't checked the time. When I got to Pony's house Darry's car wasn't in the drive and there wasn't much noise. Usually you can hear the radio blasting through the house from a few houses away. But today I could only hear the TV playing softly as I walked up the porch steps. I opened the door and went in. I must be in the wrong house, it was clean inside.

"Hello." I called sitting on the arm of the couch. I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Oh good, at least someone's here. I was watching the TV, too busy to notice that the person who was home was now in the room.

"Johnny?" I looked up. Oh my god, my heart skipped a beat.

"Yeah." I said. "Hi Mrs. Curtis." I said. She came over to me and hugged me. I could hear her crying softly. Where am I? This isn't right. Ponyboy's parents died ages ago.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, standing back.

"I don't know. Why are you here?" I asked. She frowned slightly.

"Johnny, do you know where you are?" she asked. I shook my head slowly. She sat on the couch next to me. I watched her think about what it was she was going to tell me. She looked exactly as I remembered her. "Do you remember what you did yesterday?" she asked. I slid off the arm of the couch and onto the seat to sit next to her.

"Um no."

"Well what about last week? What did you do last week?" I sighed.

"Promise you won't tell no one?" She nodded, seriously.

"I promise."

"I killed a So- guy and me and Pony had to run away so we wouldn't get caught." I said. I watched as her eyes filled with tears. I didn't know what to do. Should I tell her what else happened? I could remember up until I was talking to Pony and Two-Bit the day of the rumble. I remembered feeling tired when the nurse offered to read Gone With The Wind for me. I didn't let her read it though, that was Pony's job. Then I realized where I was and what had happened. "Do you mean this is heaven?" I asked. She nodded as she began to cry quietly, putting her head in her hands.

"I'm back!" someone called as they came into the house. I looked up; Mr. Curtis was standing in the doorway holding a plastic bag. "Oh god." he said. He stared at me and I thought he was going to hurt me but instead he sat on the other side of Mrs. Curtis. "What's wrong?' he asked her as he put his arm around her.

"It's Ponyboy." she sobbed resting her head on his shoulder. He looked at me.

"What happened to him Johnny?" he asked. He didn't seem to mind that I was here.

"Well Darry and Pony had an argument and me and Pony were at the park. Then some guys jumped us. I didn't mean to but I killed one of them."

"You what?"

"They were drowning Pony." I said. Mrs. Curtis cried harder and I was wishing desperately that I hadn't said anything. "I'm gonna go." I said standing up.

"No Johnny stay, please." Mrs. Curtis said. So I stayed where I was. We were quiet for a moment while Mrs. Curtis caught her breath.

"I'm going to get a glass of water." she said, going to the kitchen. I took a moment to remind myself where I was. I was dead, in heaven. And yet I think I liked this place better than real life. Mr. Curtis moved over sitting next to me.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You wanna know?" I asked. He nodded. I told him all the main parts of the story. Like how we got jumped, stayed in the church and how we rescued the little kids. He sighed when I told him how Darry had hit Pony and he laughed when I told him about the rumble the guys where in. He didn't mind if Pony, Soda and Darry where in fights, as long as they didn't start it.

"Was everything alright before you left?" he asked. I nodded. "What about Dally, what happened to him?" he asked.

"I think he's here too." I said. I didn't know how I knew this, I just did. He nodded. Mrs. Curtis came back in the room. I stood up.

"I'm gonna go see if I can find Dally." I said. Mrs. Curtis nodded. "I'll come by later."

"Johnny go to..Two-Bit's house later." Mr. Curtis said. I nodded and didn't ask why I had to go there. I went outside and walked off down the street. I knew that if I wanted to find Dally I'd have to go to Bucks. I got there soon and went right on in. There was no one inside. I went upstairs. I remembered which room was Dal's. I slowly opened the door. There he was, lying on the bed asleep. I slowly walked over, careful not to make a noise.

"Dally." I said, shaking him.

"Go away." he said rolling over to face me.

"Dal' get up." I said, shaking him some more. He slowly opened his eyes.

"Johnny what you doing here?" he asked sitting up, suddenly wide awake.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"Because." he said. I sat down next to me.

"You know that-" I started.

"That I'm dead. Yes I know." he snapped.

"How?" I asked.

"I saw Pony's mom yesterday." he said.

"Oh." I wanted to know why Dally was here. He left the hospital to go the rumble. He was ok, Pony had said so himself. "Why are you here, really?" I asked.

"I couldn't take it!" he yelled. I jumped slightly and stared at him. He could take everything else, I thought. "You died and I don't know. Guess I didn't want you to be alone." he said, quietly. I put my arm across his shoulders as he sat with his head in his hands.

"You didn't have to." I said quietly.

"Yes I did. You don't understand." he said. I sighed.

"Well I'm gonna go. I'll see ya later." I said and left Bucks place. I walked along, not sure where I was going. I went and sat in the lot, in the same spot I sat with Pony that night. The fire we had was still sitting here, dead. I decided I'd light it again tonight. Even if it's not cold. I stared out at the clouds. I wish I could see Pony, I thought. And at that very moment the sky opened up. There were blurry figures moving around in the sky. They slowly became the shapes of people and not just any people. I could see Pony and Soda and Darry. I watched on, amazed. Pony didn't look very well and Soda was sitting by his side not looking too happy. I sighed and leaned back against a tree. My eyes slowly closed and I fell asleep.

I didn't spend that much time with Dally. I made friends with a few guys I knew, but back in the real world they were Socs. I saw that guy I killed, Bob a few times. He managed a small smile at me once but I never had the guts to go up and talk to him.I slept at Two-Bits house which was now the Curtis house. Mr. Curtis told me one night while we sat out on the front porch watching the sun set, that they didn't live in their old house because it brought back too many memories. Though they could see their sons anytime they wanted it was too sad living in that house. The next night Mrs. Curtis was cooking dinner and I was sitting in the kitchen. She told me they lived in their house a few days but decided to move out once they found themselves waiting for Soda, Darry and Pony to get back in time for dinner every night. We talked about them a lot and it didn't hurt. Sometimes Dally would come over for dinner too. He wasn't such a 'hood' anymore. I guess it was because there was no one to hate. I remembered the poem Pony had told me and I recited it everyday in my head.

Now I spent my days with my friends. Going to movies, playing football and I went to school as well. There weren't many people in school. Maybe about 200 kids and 25 teachers. We had some people from the other side of the world here. I was jealous of them when they told us all about their life back home.  
We never talked about death here, but we did celebrate when someone new joined us. I'm still waiting for Pony and Two-Bit to come, but I know that won't be for a long time.


End file.
